Bike mechanic, racer, and world touring cyclist, Kurt, is leaving on the cycling trip of his dreams. He designed and built his touring bike and wheels to be bombproof and reliable under any conditions. He started with a somewhat damaged XtraCycle frame, a welding torch, some Halo downhill rims and a Halo rear hub, a Schmidt generator front hub, his Jamis frame, some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, a Shimano Shadow rear derailleur, XT cranks, a nose-less saddle. Then Kurt, with his formidable skills as a bike mechanic, constructed the bike that is up to the job of making this dream come true. He plans to ride from Berkeley to the tip of South America and, perhaps, onward from there to some other spots on the globe. His last trip included 12,000 miles through 18 countries in 10 months. For this trip, he has not set a return date. Best wishes and a safe journey to Kurt on his adventure. If you see him during his trip, do me a favor and keep him supplied with giant cake mixing bowls of pasta or breakfast cereal and lots of coffee. (Only black coffee, no flavored coffee, well-meaning lady cat barristas.) In the bike shop, I've also seen him have a "little snack" consisting of a gallon container of orange juice and an entire box of Wheat Thins. A few dough nuts, I've found, also usually produce a grin. We'll have a link on the Wheelgirl site to his his trip-of-a-lifetime stories and photos. (Jump for more photos of Kurt's touring bike.)
(Photos by Wheelgirl. Amazing touring bike designed and built by Kurt.)
Here are more photos of the touring bike Kurt designed and built up for his trip:
